Prologue to an Adventure
by Shax
Summary: New friends and old are introduced, and Robotnik is stirring. What is he up to...?


PROLOGUE TO AN ADVENTURE 

Series 2 - The Three Tests   
Episode 12 

[Visit Shax's Virtual Den][1]   
[E-mail the author][2]

PROLOGUE: 

Robotnik sat alone on his table. Once such a great ruler, a fearless dominator, now a wreck. He stared around at what he had. What he fought hard to acheive, what he won, and what he had now all but lost. Even though he had dedicated his entire life to perfect evil, to the pain of others and to the suffering of the planet under his ultimate greed, there was a side of him now.. a kind of sympathetic, beaten look that would melt the heart of his greatest enemies. He swore he would go down fighting... and he had done just that. Robotropolis was almost useless now. His army of E-101 robots and his entire strike force apon Station Square was his last hope, and he had nothing left. Worse yet, the Arack Empire had blackmarked him. One of the most powerful kingdoms on the planet.. they could bring down his city easily even without the current disadvantage in his armies. He walked slowly over to a file cabinet, and leafed through the papers. Badnik schematics.. that brought him back. He saw what else was in there, seeing if there was anything worth keeping. He and what was left of his army were going to evacuate Robotropolis, soon. It was too dangerous to remain. There was no hope left. As he muttered to himself, he discovered some ancient looking documents. He cocked his head to the side.. oh yes.. they were the ancient literature he stole from the Chaos Isle. It led to his discovery of Sky Sanctuary as a powerful weapon.. "Big deal." he snarled. "That thing did more harm to us than it did to our enemies." He flipped some papers over, being only slightly cautious not to tear or damage them. One of them caught his eye, because the text was so big.   
"THE CHIPS OF THE GEM CONTAIN THE WRATH OF THE FIRST TEST"   
the document stated clearly and boldly.   
"THEY CONTAIN THE MONSTER TO END ALL LIFE.   
IF THE SEVEN PIECES THINE HOLD,   
AND A SMALL ANIMAL FED WITH GREY SO BRIGHT GLOWING,   
THE ULTIMATE PERFECT CHAOS WILL REIGN AGAIN."   
"Them and their stupid myths." Robotnik snorted. He sneezed and rubbed his nose as he turned to another page. Something about "The three tests". In slight interest, he leaned on something and read it. It tought little. It kept talking about the "Xnaoo Emeralds" and whatever else. And about some monster. The word 'Emeralds' immediately reminded Robotnik about the Chaos Emeralds.. he no longer had any reason to try and steal them, as he did in the old days. They were powerful, but of little use to him any more. He flipped back to previous documents, and saw the word 'Xnaoo' so many times.. what did it mean? His curiosity overtook him. He pulled an intercom off it's hold in the wall. "Packbell." he said. "Yes sire?" the android replied from elsewhere in the city. "Have you ever heard of a word 'Xnaoo'?" he asked. There was a long pause, and then the reply came. "Xnaoo, Sire? It was used in ancient Echidna dialect, it means a great disturbance.. mayhem, or havoc.." "Chaos?" Robotnik interrupted. There was another pause. "Yes.." Packbell replied. "Chaos.. I would say that describes it almost perfectly. Why do you ask?"   
"Never mind. That is all."   
Robotnik looked back at the documents. "Xnaoo emeralds chipped from the gem contain Xnaoo." it declared. Robotnik substituted the words 'Xnaoo' for 'Chaos'. Chaos emeralds chipped from the gem contain Chaos? What was Chaos? He flipped back to the document with large text.   
"THE CHIPS OF THE GEM CONTAIN THE WRATH OF THE FIRST TEST." Chips of the Gem? What was the gem it talked about? It could be the Master Emerald.. but these documents and legends came from the Chaos Isle. Chaos Isle? The Gem could refer to the Havoc Gem!   
"Chaos emeralds chipped from the Gem".. the Chaos emeralds were chipped from the Havoc Gem? It would explain it, the emeralds contained a very similar if not exact molecular structure. He found that much out when he studied the Gem on the Isle a very long time ago..   
"THE CHIPS OF THE GEM CONTAIN THE WRATH OF THE FIRST TEST."   
"THE CHIPS OF THE GEM" that would be the Chaos Emeralds "THE WRATH OF THE FIRST TEST.."   
Robotnik flipped back to the documents about the three tests. The first test.. something about a great evil.. a great beast from the heavens. He looked at the sheet in his other hand.   
"THE WRATH OF THE FIRST TEST"   
"THE MONSTER TO END ALL LIFE"   
"CHIPS OF THE GEM... CHIPS OF THE GEM CONTAIN THE WRATH OF THE FIRST TEST"   
"Chaos emeralds chipped from the gem contain Chaos... Chaos..."   
"THE ULTIMATE PERFECT CHAOS WILL REIGN AGAIN"   
All the writings swirled around.. they began to come together and make sense. The Chaos emeralds were so much more powerful than was first thought. But how would it work?   
"A SMALL ANIMAL FED WITH GREY SO BRIGHT GLOWING"   
A small animal? Fed with grey? What did that mean? What was grey, and glowed? Turning the pages over, a single one fell out and onto the floor. "The Xnaoo Emeralds." it stated. "The six minor emeralds are controlled by the seventh, the grey emerald.." "Really.." Robotnik snarled. "You learn something new every day." 

At that, Ivo turned to leave, but Mecha Sonic stood there. "Good morning, Sire, I have ordered all the E-101 droids to begin the evacuation." "Well, stop it! Right away! Erase the orders!" Robotnik commanded. Mecha was caught off-guard. "But Sire! Why?"   
"Because we are not evacuating." Robotnik replied. He grabbed Mecha by the shoulder. He seemed either insane or frantic. "I have stumbled apon something, Mecha, something BIG." he said. "Where is the location of the Chaos Emeralds?"   
Mecha was still confused, but rather than wasting important nanoseconds of the conversation working his master's behaviour out, he checked his database for the information his master requested. "The Chaos Emeralds were stolen from their hiding place by a fugitive named Nack the Weasil, wherabouts unknown." "D***" Robotnik snarled. "Well, get him to me. I request his audience by the end of this week, do you understand?" Mecha nodded.   
"And another thing.." Robotnik began. "Does Packbell still have posession of the five E-102 prototypes?"   
"E-102?" Mecha asked. "Yes, I believe he does." "Continue construction!" Robotnik ordered. "I want them completed this week! And ready the Egg Carrier for lift-off."   
"Egg Carrier, Sire?" Mecha asked. "I have no data on.."   
"The spaceship we captured from the aliens!" Robotnik replied. "I named it the Egg Carrier, remember?"   
"Sire, what is all this for?" Mecha inquired. "You have not been bothered with the Chaos Emeralds for more than a year! After the incident of the creation of Cinos the Hedgehog, you claimed the emeralds were no longer powerful enough to suit your needs!"   
"Oh, they are powerful enough, alright." Robotnik replied. "They are more powerful than you can imagine, if these echidnas are anywhere near accurate." 

CHAPTER ONE: 

Sonic stared into a mirror, in his hut in New Knothole. He stared directly at his left eyeball, his nose pressed against the glass, and then switched to the right. Sally Acorn was passing by his hut, and stopped to watch the hedgehog. He was silently inspecting his eyes, squinting every so often. Sally quietly walked inside, but Sonic saw her in the mirror. He turned to her. "Sal, do you think my eyes are going green?" he asked. "Yeah, and you need a haircut!" Sally replied, brushing the quills on his head hard. Sonic chuckled. "YOU try finding a barber in the middle of the forest!" he said.   
"Come on.." Sally said, motioning to the door. "Do you want to meet the leader of the Station Square Freedom Fighters or not?"   
Sonic grinned. "I suppose. But a hedgehog's gotta look his best, you know!" The two walked outside, and Sonic wondered what this mighty leader would look like. She wouldn't be something of a warrior, due to the nature of Station Square.. she'd be more likely to go shopping than on a mission of justice. He caught a glance of a group of villagers crowded around somebody. Sally signalled to someone, and a few villagers began to create a path through the crowd. It was then that Sonic caught a glimpse for the first time of the famous leader of the Station Square Freedom Fighter band.. his face twisted in a strange expression of disbelief, as she turned her head and did the same.   
"Welcome to New Knothole, Miss Rose." Sally said, smiling. "I'm Sally Acorn, the leader of the Knothole Freedom Fighters, and this is one of our members, Sonic Hedgehog." She turned to him. "Sonic, meet our guest! Her name is.."   
"Amy Rose!" Sonic finished the sentance for her. "YOU'RE leader of Station Square's Freedom Figters??" "...Sonic?" the guest asked, a shocked expression on her face.   
Sally looked surprised. "Huh.. you KNOW each other?" she asked. "Of COURSE I do!" Sonic replied. "Heck, Amy and I grew up together!" Amy laughed. "Sonic!" she exclaimed, giving him a playful punch in the arm. "What in the name of Acorn are you DOING here?" "I LIVE here!" Sonic replied. 

  
Sonic and Amy had only seen each other once, since then, and it was at the beginning of the previous year. Amy, Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Streak and Petals had been snatched from their homes by Dominatrek, a corrupt Kallympian, and sent through tests. Amy didn't think much of Sonic at that time.. after all, he didn't talk to her as much after he gained his running ability and blue fur, and he had left the island without ever saying goodbye. But the two had made up afterwards. Still, they hadn't seen anything of each other for nearly two years.   
"So, where are he others?" Amy asked. "Others?" Sonic inquired. "Yeah, you know.. Tails, Knuckles, Petals, Streak.."   
"Oh, RIGHT!" Sonic replied. He spun around. "HEY, HEY TAILS!" he shouted. The two-tailed fox peered around the corner at him. "You remember my old friend Amy, right?" Sonic asked. Tails smiled and walked up to the guest hedgehog. "Heya Amy!" he announced, waving. Amy grinned widely. "Hey, little buddy, how's it going?" she asked. The two got to talking, as all three headed further into the village. Sonic turned his head and spotted Petals the Porcupine walking up to him.. her usual angry-about-everything expression painted on her face. "Hey you!" she announced. "Sally wants you three to get your butts into the meeting hall, ASAP."   
"'Kay." replied Sonic. "Hey Petals, you remember Amy, right?" Petals turned her head to the pink-spined hedgehog, who was smiling and waving. She snorted, spun around and stormed across to the meeting hall. Amy dropped her hand and stared. "Whoa, what a cow!" she murmered, snickering a little. "Yeah, she's one of our less high-spirited members." Sonic replied, motioning towards the meeting hall. "As for Knuckles, he's probably back on his island, right now. He's been a little steamed at me lately, but he never comes down here very much, anyway."   
"Steamed?" Amy asked. "How come?"   
"Oh, I just seem to botch everything up when I'm around him." Sonic replied, morbidly. "I nearly got us both killed recently on Kha, and he kinda doesn't trust me any more, like I'm a total goof."   
"Kha? I've never heard of that place, where is it?" Amy asked, in surprise. Sonic was about to give her an honest answer, but as he looked at her innocent face, he realised that she hadn't been on nearly as many adventures as he, so he merely replied "It's a long way away, I'll just leave it at that." Amy nodded, and they continued walking. "We had a murder in New Knothole recently, and now Knux seems to think I'm responsible for THAT!" Sonic said. "So we're not on very good terms right now."   
The two came to the entrance of the hall, where there was a congregation of villagers. Sally ran up to them. "You're late!" she said, a little surprised. "No, you just have a slack messanger." Sonic replied. The stage above the hall had a number of seats on it, and in all but three, representatives from both Freedom Fighter bands were seated. The three empty seats were apparently for Sonic, Amy and Sally, as the three made their way across to them. "What about Streak?" Amy asked. "He was a nice guy, what became of him?"   
Sonic looked around at the gathering. "Oh, he's here somewhere." he replied. "Hey Sal, where's Streak?"   
Sally looked at him. "Streak? Oh, he's not here, he's out with his cousin somewhere, to the best of my knowledge."   
"His cousin?" Sonic asked. "WHAT cousin?"   
"I'm surprised you haven't noticed!" Sally replied. "Streak's cousin has been coming down here for a few weeks, on and off. He's some kind of wanderer, and he wanted to spend time with Streak, so he set up a shack in the Great Forest nearby, against the river somewhere. I think the guy's name is.." 

"BIG!" Streak yelled through the thick foliage. "HA HAA!" The purple cat struggled with a giant fish that he snagged on his fishing line. "I GOT ONE, BIG, IT'S A WHOPPER!!"   
"Great, cuz!" came a deep voice from further down the river. "Put it in the bucket with the others!"   
Streak grinned, and threw the squirming fish into a bucket. "The biggest one I've caught today!" he exclaimed. "I've never been able to fish properly, this is great!" Streak's cousin, "Big" the Cat, was an expert fisherman. He used to live higher, on the mountains, but came down to the Great Forest after hearing that his cousin lived there. Streak packed up his fishing line, grabbed the bucket, and walked downstream. Sitting on the embankment, long fishing line in the water, was Big himself. Big wasn't his real name, obviously, but he liked to be called that.. it had been his nickname all his life. And it was no wonder, because Big was... BIG! Most people are rather sensitive about their weight, but Big was never able to figure out why. He had faced the fact - he was obese. And he saw nothing wrong with it. He also didn't have a whole lot of intelligence, but he was rather wise, and he had always said that there was no point in trying to change who you are. If somebody teased him, he just laughed it off. He was a very jolly, carefree character, which contradicted Streak's worrysome nature. In fact, Big and Streak were quite the opposite in many ways.. Streak was quite slim. And there was another significant quality about Streak that wasn't posessed by his cousin..   
"So, how do you like your fish? Rare or well-done?" Streak asked, once they were inside. He held his hands up, and sparks began to build up. He was about ready to fry the fish with his bizarre electric shock power, when Big grabbed his hands. He chuckled. "We're gonna be cookin' these fish like they're SUPPOSED tuh' be cooked!" he said. "Not wif no electric zap! They'll taste better." Streak smiled, a little embarrassed. "Okay then, show me how to cook fish like they're SUPPOSED to be cooked." he said. No sooner did he finish speaking, and something dropped onto his head. Shocked, the cat stumbled back. "What's on my head??" he asked. Big, in his usual slow, carefree manner, turned his large head and looked at his cousin. "Froggy!" he said. "What are you doing on top uh' his head, good buddy?" he asked. "Froggy?" Streak asked. He picked whatever it was off his head, and found that it was a huge, green frog! The frog croaked, and squirmed a little in protest from being held. "..Froggy?" Streak asked again. Big bent down and picked the frog up. He put it on his shoulder. "Dis is my lil' mate Froggy!" he said. "He's lived wif me for years, wherever I go! He's my bestest buddy in the whole world!" He made a sickeningly cute face at the frog. "Aren't 'ya! Huh? Aren't 'ya! Yes, you're my good froggy buddy!"   
Streak puzzled over why his cousin created such a strong bond with a frog, but he decided it was because Big was lonely. After all, the cat hardly ever saw another Mobian during his travels. He insisted it was the good life, but Streak had to wonder. Perhaps Big would remain in the Great Forest for a while to come. He himself had said that the river running through the forest was very good for fishing, and that was Big's favourite activity..   
As the two cats began to fry their dinner in the forest hut, a very different scene was playing in Robotropolis... 

He couldn't see. His internal sensors indicated there was movement nearby, and he tried to jerk to the left, but couldn't. Who was he? Where was he? He struggled to remember. All he could remember were birds. Lots and lots of birds. There were birds as far back as his memory went. Something happened.. a hard jolt in his mainframe. Everything fizzled into focus. He jerked his head to the left. There was a silver robot hedgehog on a pedestal, damaged and non-operative. He jerked his head to the right. There was a blue robot hedgehog, also damaged and non operative. He jerked back to the center. A human looking back at him. An older-looking human.. some kind of military uniform. He wondered again who he was, WHAT he was. Was he a robot hedgehog? He couldn't look down. His head wasn't designed that way, and he couldn't bend over, only move his head. This annoyed him. "Gamma, can you hear me? Unit Gamma, test one, two, one, two" Packbell said.   
The robot turned his head to Packbell. "Birds." he said. Packbell frowned, and jabbed his screwdriver back into the robots mainframe, and began twisting things. "You are E-102 Gamma." he explained. "Third of the E-102 series. I am your creator, Commander Packbell, and your master and overlord is the great and powerful Doctor Ivo Robotnik.   
"Gamma.." the robot said. He looked around the room again with his circular rotating head. "Gamma. E-102 Gamma."   
"Yes, Gamma." Packbell praised. "Now, what were you saying about birds?" He twisted something hard, and all memory of birds was erased from Gamma's memory. "I know nothing of birds." Gamma replied. "I serve only Robotnik." "Good." Packbell said, swinging the chest compartment of his creation shut. The android stood up to eye level of the robot and smiled. "There was a slight complication, are all your internal systems working properly?"   
"I believe so.." Gamma replied. "No problems in operation have been encountered as of yet, everything appears to be working smoothly and to optimum performance."   
"Good!" Packbell replied. "You might wish to.. mingle.. with your older brothers Delta and Beta. I still need to work on Zeta and Epsilon.. make them operative.   
With that, Packbell walked away, and left Gamma to himself. The robot, for some reason, immediately saw Packbell as a kind of father figure. The android was kindly to him in his first few moments of life. He had an overwhelming compassion for his creations, Gamma saw it in his eyes. The robot stepped off the pedestal, and looked about himself. For a breif moment, something inside him struggled to escape, begged to be let free.. but then it faded, and Gamma left in search of his siblings. 

The day darkened into night. Four large E-101 robots, having walked for days, were finally homing in on the power that they were in search of for all this time. The Seven Chaos emeralds. Robotnik wanted those emeralds, and the robots were not to give up until they found them.. which was now happening. People on the streets of Twinkle Park didn't flinch too much apon seeing the four robots, armed to the teeth, walking freely amongst them. After all, it WAS an amusement park. Robots were not uncommon, although they were usually in the shape of large pink dinosaurs or friendly aliens complete with antennae, rather than the dark, ominous, beefed-up eggrobos that were the E-101 series. The robots marched through the crowds in complete unison, towards their goal.. a massive building in the heart of Twinkle Park that gave the city it's alternate name of Casino City. 

"COME ON MOMMA!" screamed the grinning weasil, shaking a large pair of dice in his hands. "DADDY NEEDS A NEW PAIR OF EARMUFFS!" He chucked the dice onto the table amidst the spectators, and crossed his fingers. When he saw the number that turned up on the dice, he frowned. "Awwww CRAPS!" he cursed. "That's it, I need a drink!" He hopped off the stool and pushed his way through the crowd. Reaching a stool at the bar, he pulled himself up and signalled the bartender. "Double tequila!" he announced. "On the rocks! And don't be skimpy on the mega mack in that stuff, eh?" The bartender, a lanky squirrel with a mostache, began to prepare the drink. "Having a celebration, partner?" he asked. "Yessiree!" the purple weasil replied, showing his wide toothy grin. "I tell ya, I'm THIS CLOSE to closing a deal that's going to make me a VERY rich merchant indeed! Let's just say I've rounded up quite a few prospective buyers for seven little assets I've been trying to get rid of for quite some time! I'm sitting pretty!"   
"That's nice to know, partner!" the bartender replied, mixing the drink.   
"Oh, and I'll buy another 'o those drinks for my friend here, too, bartender." the weasil added.   
An attractive tabby cat who was sitting next to the weasil swooshed her hair out of her eyes and looked in surprise. "Why, that's mighty kind of you, mister!" she said, putting her arm around him.   
"Say what??" the weasil asked, raising an eyebrow.   
"Buying a drink for me, I mean!" the cat replied.   
"Hey, I ain't buyin' no drink for you, lady! What do I look like, huh?" the weasil snapped back. "I'm buying a drink for my friend Larry, here, I can't get one for you too!"   
"Who?" the cat asked, a little offended.   
"Larry! LARRY!" the weasil retorted, losing his patience. The bartender put two glasses on the table, and the weasil picked them both up. "Seeing as Larry can't drink, I guess I'll have to drink it for him!" he said. He then banged both glasses together in a toast.   
"To good health!"   
Then he swallowed the contents of both in a few short gulps. That was when the excited sounds throughout the casino turned into gasps and screaming, and four enormous robots burst into the building. They pushed their way through the crowd, and came right up to the weasil, who eyed them suspiciously.   
"Nack the Weasil?" one of the robots asked.   
"Yeah, that's my name, iron-britches, don't wear it out!"   
The robots straightened in posture. "The great Doctor Robotnik has asked for the pleasure of your company in his office in Robotropolis." the tallest one announced.   
"The great Doctor wha?" Nack asked. "DOCTOR? You've got the wrong weasil, pal, 'cos I ain't sick!"   
The robots grabbed the weasil by the waist and lifted him, much to his protest. "Robotnik's will shall not be denied." 

CHAPTER TWO: 

Tails the Fox looked both ways before entering the shed. 

It was a large shed, and it was filled with all manner of equipment. But the thing Tails was here to work with was right in the center, taking up most of the space. It was a small red biplane called "The Tornado". It was built by Knothole mechanics for recon missions in Robotropolis.. but Tails had pretty much accepted it as his own, as he was just about the only one who used it any more. He wasn't telling Sally that he had plans for it.. he was quite the mechanic at times, and he decided it was time for his first project. He was going to improve the Tornado... with a little help from something he found in the glovebox. He used a pair of tongs to pick it up... it was jagged and yellow, with a slight glow. It could be described as the eighth Chaos Emerald, because it was created in the same way. Lex Echidna chipped it off the Havoc Gem to try and stop one of the supposed doomsday events from occuring... and SOMEHOW it had wound up in the glovebox of the tornado! So Tails made a new design for the plane, and had been working on it for quite a while.. and he was quite excited in anticipation for the first time he would be able to get it off the ground. 

Packbell saluted as he entered Robotnik's office. "The E-102 series is finally ready, sire!" he announced.   
"AAAH! Fantastic!" Robotnik replied with glee. "My new assistants! Show them in!" His 'pet' robot, E-100 Genesis, looked up at him with dim eyes. "Do not worry, Genesis, they will not replace you.." Robotnik said with assurance. Packbell opened the door. "Presenting E-102 Beta!" he announced. A robot walked into the office slowly. "Yo..." he announced gruffly. He looked like a basic E-101 robot, only he was black and white, and both arms bared cannons... LARGE cannons. Beta flashed his green eyes brightly and gave an odd salute with one of his dangerous weapons.   
"E-102 Delta!" Packbell shouted.   
A dark blue robot marched in lazily, both cannon-arms folded across his metallic chest. "Doctor 'R'." he acknowledged, with a slight attitude. Robotnik leaned towards them and raised an eyebrow. "They have... interesting personalities." he noted. "Alas it could not be helped, sire." Packbell replied. "They are extremely efficient.. thought processes are incredible, they don't just fight like machines, they fight like living creatures. In order to incorperate these features, they have taken on an experimental and revolutionary new technique... they are powered by fully-living creatures. Each droid houses a perfectly contained living creature, who has had their thought-processes directed to the processing unit, and fully re-programmed to be perfectly loyal to you. In the process of thought-redirection, they have also adopted the personality traits of their host. It was unavoidable..."   
"Like some kind of advanced robotization?" Robotnik asked.   
"Yes, sire.." Packbell replied. "With the one difference, again unavoidable, being that it can be reversed without much trauma. Although I doubt that is anywhere near a deep concern."   
"Good, Packbell..." Robotnik replied. "Bring in the others."   
"E-102 Epsilon!" he announced. A large yellow robot walked in, and looked around. He looked quite menacing.. his guns were bigger and he was swinging them around like a couple of heavy industrial girders. "E-ONE-OH-TWO-EPSILON!" he announced loudly. "AT YOUR SERVICE, GREAT RULER OF ROBOTS!" Robotnik pointed a finger at him. "I like this one..." he announced. "How many did you build?"   
"Five.." Packbell replied. "E-102 Gamma! You're next.."   
A red E-102 walked in slowly and timidly. He blinked his green eyes, and looked up at Robotnik without saying a word. He had a laser rifle on one arm and a hand on the other, like the original E-100 and E-101 series.   
"EXCELLENT!" Robotnik shouted unprovoked. Gamma fell over.   
"You must excuse him, sire.. there.. well, there was a problem in the development of this one."   
"A problem?" Robotnik asked.   
"Yes, the bird inside him broke out of his sedative during the brain wave synchronization process, and had to be contained, and the process was unable to continue through to the end. As a result, he is not COMPLETELY bonded with his machine body, and he might question orders instead of carrying them out immediately... and he is still confused."   
"Will this be a problem?" Robotnik asked. "If this is a problem, I want him destroyed."   
"Sire.. no!" Packbell replied in Gamma's defence. "It only means extra training.. I will run him through the taining course a few more times, he'll be alright."   
"Fine..." Robotnik replied, reclining. "You said you built five.. where is the fifth?"   
Packbell twitched a little. "The fifth?" he asked.   
"Yes, the fifth! The fifth!" Robotnik exclaimed impatiently.   
"The fifth.." Packbell repeated. "Yes... Zeta. You might say, sire, that he turned out.. a little TOO well."   
"You cannot turn out TOO well, Packbell, it is unheard of in my tastes.."   
"Very good, sire.." Packbell said, twitching again. "E-102 Zeta! Come in!" he shouted. There was a loud thump, and then the steady clanging of feet was heard, approaching. Even Robotnik was a little intimidated.. not that he would admit it.. for the footsteps were louder than those of the other E-102s. Quite considerably louder. He could see the things in his office not nailed down rattling and shaking. The first things he saw were the huge green strobe lights-for-eyes.. then the full robot came into view. Painted a mouve colour, Zeta was indeed menacing. He had pistons and engines operating all over his body, and guns lined his chest and sides.   
"Good evening, Doctor Robotnik..." he boomed. "I am E-102 Zeta. Our enemies.. end with me."   
Robotnik was breathtaken. "Different design, Packbell?" he finally managed to choke out.   
"I thought he could be used as a guard... he is an excellent enforcer." Packbell replied.   
"Very good, Packbell.." Robotnik said, not blinking. Suddenly something beeped on his desk. He pressed a button. "YES?" he asked. "We have returned with your guest..." a voice through a speaker said. "Excellent, bring him up." Robotnik replied. "You four robots! I have your first orders."   
"We live to serve!" Epsilon said, saluting.   
"Locate the Freedom Fighters." Robotnik said, simply. "They have set up a village close to Station Square somewhere, I am sure of it. Find them and destroy them. They will only serve as an interference if they remain alive during the next month... But Zeta, you stay here, I have special use for you." With that, Robotnik walked out the door, and Zeta followed close behind. Packbell cast a worried glance at the robots.. Gamma in paticular.. and then left also.   
"Well then, I suppose we have a search and destroy mission to attend to!" Delta announced.   
"YAAAAAAHOOOOOOO!" screamed Beta, who began shooting both guns into the air in celebration. "Let's rip us open a few Freedom Fighters!" The robot turned his head and noticed Gamma was looking around the office curiously, ignoring the others. "Hey GAMMAAAA!" Beta shouted, tauntingly. "What's wrong, you some kind of woos?"   
"Methinks our dear brother Gamma sees himself as better than us!" Delta commented.   
"Hey, look at me when I'm talkin' to 'ya!" Beta shouted, he strolled over and grabbed Gamma around the waist. "Get back here, woos!" he threatened. Gamma turned his head slightly. "Do not bother me, Beta..." he retorted, before walking away. Beta let out a loud huff. "WheOOOOh!" he shouted. "We've got a BIG BOT over here! Hey Gammaaaa, I'll bother you as much as I want! What are you gonna do about it, bolt-bucket?"   
"Perhaps we should teach him a lesson..." Delta suggested evilly.   
"NEGATIVE!" Epsilon commanded, putting a limb in between Beta and Gamma. "Our mission is NOT to destroy our own kind, but to destroy the Freedom Fighters!"   
"Oh yeaaaah!" Beta commented. "And there was one in particular, right? One that we were supposed to pay special attention to?"   
"If my programming serves me correctly, his name is Sonic..." Delta said.   
"Soooooniiiic!" Beta replied.   
"Sonic the Hedgehog is our sworn enemy!" Gamma announced. His eyes dimmed. "At least... I think he is.."   
"THEN IT IS DECIDED!" Epsilon announced, raising his arm. "We shall go into battle, and destroy the rebel Freedom Fighters and Sonic the Hedgehog! We shall fight for our country, and our master! For in these times of war, there can BE NO REBEL SURVIVORS!"   
The other robots howled in agreement and marched out the door... headed off to locate New Knothole, and destroy it. 

"Nack the Weasil.." Robotnik murmured. "Nice to meet you... welcome to my city."   
"Nice little place you have here, Prof!" Nack replied, looking around the dark fortress.   
"I understand you have something I need.." Robotnik said, standing up.   
"I'm willing to pay a handsome sum if you could provide me with it..."   
"Oh?" Nack asked. "What is it?"   
"The Chaos Emeralds." Robotnik replied. "And I can give you a thousand dollars... each."   
"Huh?" Nack asked. "What's a Chaos Emerald? I dunno anything about no emeralds!"   
Robotnik raised an eyebrow and turned to Packbell. "I was advised that this Mobian posessed the Chaos Emeralds." he said.   
"He does." Packbell replied, certain. "I think he is unimpressed by your price and wishes you to haggle."   
Robotnik turned back to Nack. "Two thousand each." he said.   
"Oh, wait...... wait....." Nack said, a spark of recognition in his face. "I think I heard something about some emeralds........ but it was a long time ago, I don't think I can remember....."   
"Five thousand apiece." Robotnik offered, tapping his fingers on his throne.   
"Chaos Emeralds! Yes!" Nack replied. "I heard about them just the other day! I still.... can't seem to remember.... where they are...."   
"Ten thousand each and it's my final offer!" Robotnik shouted, banging his fist on the arm rest.   
Nack's eyes lit up like lightbulbs. "YES! I REMEMBER!" he shouted. "I have them right HERE! Oh silly me!" He pulled a large sack off his belt, and held his hand out, grinning. Robotnik sideeyed Genesis, his E-100 robot, and pointed. "Genesis.." he said. Genesis looked up at him, then left the room. Moments later, the robot returned with a large box. He handed it to Robotnik, and he opened it. Gold coins were inside.. in international Mobian currency. He counted out a number of them, which ended up being most of the coins in the box, and poured them into a sack. He pulled the strings closed, and handed it to Genesis. The robot walked up to the weasil with it, who snatched it out of his hands and promptly opened it. He got out a single coin and bit down hard on it. "OUCH!" he screamed, holding his jaw. "I mean.. I'M RICH!" He tossed his own sack to Genesis, and began to nurse his newfound riches. Genesis handed the sack with the emeralds to Robotnik, who grinned in success.   
"Would you like anything else?" Nack asked. "I don't just deal in emeralds! I have watches! Jewelry! Spices from around the world!" He opened his coat, displaying a virtual jewelry store hanging inside.   
"ZETA!" Robotnik shouted. Show Mr. Weasil to the door, thankyou!"   
The huge purple robot began to advance on Nack, but the weasil stepped back. "No! No, haha, naw, that won't be nessisary!" he said. "I can find my own way out!" He saluted, and hopped across the floor to the large palace door, opened it, and slammed it behind him. His woops of joy could be heard from all over Robotropolis before they finally faded into the distance.   
"Glad I could make him happy..." Robotnik said, a little sarcastic.   
"Sire, you just gave him seventy thousand dollars... that's just about all we have." Packbell complained.   
"Your point being?" Robotnik asked.   
"We could have just TAKEN the emeralds..." Mecha droned from the other side of the room. "That character would be unable to defend himself.." "Do not judge a book from it's cover.." Robotnik replied. "From the information I have gathered, Nack is a very tricky customer. We would be best off on his good side.. especially in our current situation with the Arack Empire. It would be one less enemy on our backs. Besides! By the end of this year, our money problems will be over!"   
"I do not understand..." Mecha said, shaking his head. "Sire, how are the Chaos Emeralds possibly going to help us dominate Station Square? I understand they are powerful enough to fuel just about anything, but we have no machinery to run! And no time to build any..." "I seek the emeralds for a different reason this time, Mecha..." Robotnik replied. He opened the sack, revealing seven emeralds... he lifted out a mouve one, and looked it over. 

"Imagine a creature." he said. "A monster. A beast as big as a city... and imagine it under our control. We could order it to retrieve anything our hearts desire... wealth, power, entire cities... and NOBODY could stand in our way. We would rule this planet, and nothing like the Freedom Fighters, or the Arack Empire... NOBODY could stand against us!"   
"With all due respect, sire, that sounds like a fantasy!" Mecha said.   
"It is entirely real." Robotnik replied, assuredly. "I have studied the writings of the echidnas... SOMETHING was trapped in these emeralds around two hundred years ago. And I am going to release it... only one ingredient remains..."   
"One ingredient?" Packbell asked, curiously.   
"Yes.." Robotnik replied. "To release the monster, I need a small animal to be fed the power of the grey Chaos Emerald. It sounds strange, but I am only following the scriptures.. I require a frog, Packbell.. a particularly large species of Mobian frog, they were sometimes worshipped by the echidnas as... bringers of Chaos...." He smiled as he realised suddenly why that was so. "Once I have the frog... Mobius will be mine." He let out a fearsome cackle that could be heard throughout the city.... 

"So, where do we find this village, guys?" Beta asked.   
"Assumedly near Station Square.." Delta replied. "That is where Lord Robotnik told us to head."   
"Then FOWARD to Station Square, men!" Epsilon shouted. Gamma started walking, but slowly and curiously.. he was picking up a strange sound. Eventually he stopped altogether. Beta turned to him. "What's wrong, wimp?" he asked.   
"What is that?" Gamma asked in reply.   
"Huh?" muttered Beta, looking around. He could only see a strange machine a few meters behind them, on the outskirts of Robotropolis, changing direction. Gamma walked up to it and read the label. "Magnetism sheild transmitter.." he read.   
"WHO CARES?" Beta demanded. "We have a job to do!" Suddenly, there was an enormous noise inside Robotropolis, and the four robots were thrown to the ground by an unseen force.   
"FRAGNNIKOLAPOLITOFOLOPPANGIGIGIHSISISISSHHHHHHHOOOPADOOBIGAGA!!!!!!!!" Delta screamed. "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM, SOLDIER?" Epsilon demanded. Suddenly, he himself went into spasms, and flew through the air towards Delta.. crashing into him and sticking to him as if by glue. Gamma and Beta were having similar problems.. stuck together and suffering spasms. Then all four robots went offline. Just as something began to lift out of the Robotropolis hangar... 

The year before, around a similar time of year, Chichi Bobo warriors from the planet Kha had arrived on Mobius. They commanded ships which could disable machinary just by flying overhead, because they used magnetics to repel the magnetic feild of a planet and thus to fly. But, as a side-effect, anything under them became magnetized.   
This was one of those ships.   
Once commanded by the late Rupture-Amon, it was now owned by the equally twisted Ivo Robotnik. It was black, maroon and dull yellow all over.. a yellow plate on the side, once marked with an indecipherable Chichi Bobo symbol, had since been replaced with an image of Robotnik's own smiling face. He called it the Egg Carrier, just for the pure joy he found in naming things after eggs. This was it's first mission... Robotnik hoped it would be the first step in dominating Mobius. 

CHAPTER THREE: 

Knuckles held up an emerald, and looked it over. 

Knux was guardian of the Floating Island, and as such, he decided it was part of his job to look over the emeralds and make sure they were almost spotless. The Floating Island was probably the biggest supply of dicovered emerald on the planet.. an extremely powerful element with radioactive, but non-harmful properties. The entire island was actually powered by a gigantic emerald called the "Master Emerald". Knuckles polished a small emerald, and put it down. He sighed and looked around the underground Hidden Palace. He hadn't left the island in a long time... why? He was suddenly so nervous about his island that he didn't want to leave it. He was having strange vibes that something horrible was going to happen... so he braced himself and shined his emeralds. He could take on anything that happened... right? 

Epsilon was the first robot to stand up. "All systems.. are working perfectly!" he announced. "SOLDIERS! Get up, men!"   
The other robots slowly picked themselves up, and looked around. "Might I inquire to ask just WHAT HAPPENED there?" Delta asked.   
"Something to do with that machine..." Gamma insisted.   
"WHO CARES?" Beta yelled.   
"Affirmative!" Epsilon replied. "Standing around dawdling gets us nowhere! We have a war to fight!" 

*** 

Sagittarius walked around nervously. Sonic and Amy stepped out of a hut, and the echidna toddled over to them. "Sonic... remember the last time we visited the Chaos Isle?" he asked.   
"How can I forget?" Sonic asked. "I was nearly killed! Not that I don't almost get killed on a regular basis.."   
"Remember what Pantheos told us?" Sage asked.   
"He said a lot of things..." Sonic replied.   
"About the three tests!" Sage replied.   
"Oh, right, that prophecy stuff..." Sonic said.   
"It's nearing the end of the month..." Sage warned.   
"You think anything's ever gonna happen?" Sonic asked. "It hasn't so far.."   
"I've been thinking..." Sage said. "On the day we left for the Chaos Isle, it was the first of October. When we came back, Knothole was destroyed, and we found out Robotnik had used the Sky Sanctuary weapon! That weapon was part of the original second test!"   
"Bit of a coincidence, huh?" Sonic asked, unconvinced.   
"And THIS month, on the first day, you and Knux flew off to Kha to battle to get the echidnas back! That was the exact reversal of the third test!"   
"This is confusing me something shocking.." Sonic said.   
"It's confusing, but it makes sense!" Sage insisted.   
"What's supposed to happen next month?" Sonic asked.   
Sage didn't reply... instead he gave a nervous and frightened look. At last, he said "Xnaoo.", and then walked away. Amy looked at the echidna strangely as he walked. "What was that about..?" she asked.   
"Oh, just an echidna thing." Sonic replied. "They all seem to agree about some doomsday prophecy that an old guy on an island made for the end of 1999."   
"But it's been coming true so far, huh?" Amy asked.   
"Weird things happen all the time!" Sonic replied. "Ever since Robotnik was created, it's been one adventure after another. Besides, there are THOUSANDS of doomsday cults and religions that predict that the world will end next month. It's a millennium thing, it drives people psycho."   
"I guess so...." Amy replied 

The two hedgehogs walked along the outskirts of the village. "This is a nice place, considering how fast you slapped it together!" Amy complimented. "It's still not completely finished.." Sonic replied, sitting on a rock. "There's still quite a bit of construction to do, here." Amy sat on a rock opposite him. "Sonic.. look at me." she said. He turned his head and stared at her. After a while, she smirked. "I thought so!" she said.   
"Sonic, your eyes are turning green!"   
"Think so?" Sonic asked. "I noticed that earlier! Pretty weird, huh?"   
"Kinda makes you look a bit psycho if you pose just right!" Amy said, laughing. Sonic smiled.   
"Guess it's a change for the new millennium!" he said.   
The two both laughed it off, and sat there for a while... just looking into each other's eyes. The silence was broken when a voice shouted at them. "HEY CHICKADEES! QUIT THE MUSH!"   
Sonic shot up, and saw a robot standing in the bushes. An E-101! But the parts that were usually red were painted black!   
Sonic jumped into a fighting stance, while Amy shrank back a little.. not ready for physical combat.   
"Nice paint job, 'bot!" Sonic shouted back. "Since when did Robotnik start giving his dumb robots smart mouths?"   
"Since today, organism.." came another voice. Another robot stepped out of the scrub... a blue one. Sonic saw now that they weren't any normal E-101s. They both sported large missile launchers and guns, heavy weapons even for an E-series, and they seemed bigger. And smarter. E-101s had no will of their own, but these robots had their own personalities.   
"I'm afraid we are going to have to take this village from you, little creature!" the blue robot said in a way that proved he really WASN'T "afraid" about what he was going to attempt.   
"You and who's army, tin can?" Sonic asked.   
"Oh, I think my brothers and I should provide enough of a... resistance against you." the robot replied.   
"You creeps are GOING DOWN!" the black robot added. With that, two more robots stepped from the forest. A red one and a yellow one. Their green eyes glowed as they advanced on the hedgehogs.   
"Sonic, we can't fight all of them!" Amy warned. "Come on, we've gotta go warn the others..."   
"SONIC??" the black robot asked. "Did someone say SONIC??"   
"Men, it appears we have located our primary target!" the yellow robot announced.   
"Sonic is our mortal enemy..." the red robot added.   
"Sonic, COME ON!" Amy shouted, trying to pull him back towards the village. But Sonic broke her grip and frowned at the robots. "I'll not be beaten by any dumb E-series losers!" Sonic announced. Then he bolted full-speed at the robots. They were not worried, they just raised their guns. Bullets rained and barely missed Sonic as he zipped and darted... somebody shot a couple of missiles which missed him and blew up something in the village. That got the Freedon Fighters' attention.. they ran for reinforcements. Sonic avoided everything that was thrown at him, and he slammed into the nearest robot.. the black one. The droid toppled over, but the blue robot was waiting with open arms right behind him. He grabbed Sonic in a headlock, and the other robots aimed their guns. Thinking quickly, Sonic spun into a spindash to break the robot's grip, and tore off into the village. Amy was right, it was a mismatch. He couldn't fight these robots on his own.   
"FOWARD, MEN!" one of the robots behind him shouted. "THIS IS WAR!" 

The robots attacked the village, alright.. they attacked, and they did a good job. These were not normal E-series droids.. they were GOOD. Hulls like titanium, and their weapons were wreaking havoc. Sally was freaking out.. her new village was not faring well against the attack.   
Amy was busy, too, commanding her own Freedom Fighters. They were not used to attacks, and they were not doing much good. Amy was just running around the circumference of the village looking for more villagers, when someone grabbed her by the shoulder. She looked around, and gasped.... it was the red robot! He was aiming a laser pistol in her face, and had a firm grip on her shoulder. This was it... Amy knew she was going to die. 

The pink hedgehog had her eyes closed, but opened them after a while. The weapon was still in her face, but the robot made no move to fire it. Did he short-circuit or something? She looked at his chest.. the greek symbol for "Gamma" was printed on his hull. "Are you going to do it?" Amy asked. The robot released her and put his gun down. "No." he replied. "Excuse me?" Amy asked, not believing her ears.   
"You are young, attractive, and you do not belong in a war. It would do you well to leave this place." the robot replied. It then turned and walked back into the village, probably to cause more destruction. Amy was shocked.. one of Robotnik's creations had just given her SYMPATHY! Robotnik made certain to program all of his robots to destroy all life and spare nobody.. or so she thought. "I can't believe it...." she muttered. 

CHAPTER FOUR: 

The large green frog jumped through the forest. He was Big the Cat's frog, and he was out hunting for bugs for his dinner. He hopped happilly through the long grass, every so often snagging an unsuspecting beetle in his sticky tongue. Life was good. He had daringly hopped quite a distance from Big's hut in the forest.. he dropped off a rock, croaked, and hopped along in search of more food. He heard crickets chirping quite low ahead.. and something else, too. Another frog croaking! Was it his species? He couldn't tell. But it would be great to have another frog to croak with! So he hopped towards the thick scrub ahead. He tumbled down a short dirt cliff, and landed on all fours. He croaked loudly to announce his presence, and hopped through the bushes to enter a clearing. He couldn't see any frogs... only robots, a huge speaker, and a MASSIVE spaceship hovering above the ground. Feeling threatened, the frog hopped away, but he was suddenly snatched up in a net. Trapped! He flailed around but only succeeded in getting himself more tangled. Suddenly, darkness. 

"EXCELLENT!" Robotnik screamed excitedly. "Launch main thrusters and intensify polar magnets! Launch the Carrier.. and BRING ME THE EMERALDS! The hour is apon us, Mecha... soon our problems will be over, and I will finally rule Mobius!" He laughed insanely and slammed his metal fist down so hard that he dented the arm of the swivel chair he was sitting in, in the cockpit of the Egg Carrier. 

*** 

Nobody in New Knothole was happy with the developments, whether they were from the village or from Station Square. "Robotnik appears to have unleashed a new weapon.." Sally said morbidly. "Who knows how many of those robots he has? After all that time, we STILL couldn't hurt them, or even scratch them! Only chase them away, probably for reinforcements!" "This is not good, not good at all, things are too tense, too tense..." Sage muttered, getting more nervous all the time. "There's something we don't know, something's being kept from us.. Robotnik's up to something.." "You're right..." Sally said. "But what? We have no idea what he's doing!" "Then we find out, Sally.." Amy said. "There's only one way to find out what he's planning, and that's to go in there and flush out the information!" Sonic smiled.. he liked it when Amy was authorative. 

That's how Amy, Sonic and Sage had wound up in Robotropolis. 

They had taken the Tornado, and Tails had been careful to hide his new engine before they took off. He didn't want to show them just yet. The three had hidden the plane in the bushes outside the city, and sneaked inside.   
The city looked quite different since the last time they were there. It was almost empty, and most everything was boxed up... as if they were halfway through some kind of evacuation.   
"We'll all split up.." Sonic whispered. The other two nodded, and walked off in different directions. Sonic went straight ahead. 

Alone now, Sonic explored the city as if he had never been there before. Everything was different.. changed around. Sonic heard someone talking, so he dived behind a stack of boxes and stayed silent. He realised nobody had noticed him, so he peeked around the corner. He could have screamed if he didn't stop himself, because he was about three metres away from THE biggest robot he had ever seen! It looked like the basic model of an E-100, but it was HUGE, painted purple and white, and had a gun or two for every spine on Sonic's back. If it had motion sensors, they were not activated, which was lucky. The guard was preoccupied talking to that strange red-eyed bat that kept popping up all over the place.   
"So, you're the new guard dude, huh?" the bat asked.   
"I am not familiar with the term 'dude'." the robot replied. "But indeed, I am the new guard! And I shall crush intruders.."   
Sonic's heart flipped at the robot's dark voice.   
"I thought the boss was evacuating!" the bat said. "What's happening now? Nobody ever fills me in on information!"   
"Lord Robotnik's new weapon is underway!" the robot announced. "Soon he will rule the planet! I am unauthorised to give any more information!"   
"Unauthorised?" the bat complained. "But I WORK here!"   
Sonic crept slowly away from the scene, being sure to remain hidden at all times. 

Sagittarius was creeping around when he heard voices behind him. He froze. Was he caught? He grabbed an arrow from his quiver, loaded it, and spun around all in the space of two seconds. No, he wasn't found out, the voices were behind some heavy machinary nearby. Sage tiptoed around, and peered down the path. Packbell! And one of the attacking E-series robots.. the red one.   
"I am sorry that your brothers don't take kindly to you, Gamma..." Packbell said. "You are not like them, you have a more timid personality."   
"Why must I be different?" the red robot complained.   
"Different is good!" Packbell assured him. "I like you, Gamma, perhaps even more than any of my other creations!"   
"You... do?" the other robot asked.   
Packbell smiled kindly. "Yes, I do! You are more... shall we say, likable, than the others, you don't have an attitude like Beta, or an ego like Delta.. you're less serious about your job than Epsilon, and you're not bloodthirsty like Zeta..."   
"I have always seen you as my father, Commander..." the red robot admitted.   
Packbell smiled again. "Don't call me Commander, Son.." he said. Then the two robots finished the conversation by hugging.   
Sage scrunched up his face. "How sappy!" he thought. He had a mind to pop off both evil robots with two twangs of his bow, but after that display, he didn't have the heart. He got back on his feet and moved on. 

Amy appeared to have found herself in a part of Robotropolis being reconstructed. It didn't take her long to get lost, this was her first trip to the city. There was nobody around for a long while.. at least nobody intelligent. Just worker bots.   
Being a worker bot was one job that could be assigned to a creature after robotization. It consisted of building, cementing, and repeatedly banging with hammers. There was a whole cluster of them here, rebuilding what appeared to be part of the main tower. Amy walked along nervously, and came across one of the robots unknowingly. Both of them froze for a long time.. then the worker bot dropped the hammer it was banging something with, and ran away. Amy let out a long sigh, and looked down at the hammer. Strange.... it wasn't a hammer, it was just a long steel pole with a button on the side. She picked it up, and looked it over. She held it up, and pressed the button. Much to her surprise, the pole made a loud noise, and automatically extended and formed a huge hammer! Amy fell over with surprise, and as soon as she let go of the button, the object shrank back into a stick and fell beside her. "Strange contraption..." she murmered. Suddenly, the worker bot returned, and stood before her. She clambered back onto her feet, and grabbed the hammer off the ground. She and the robot stared at each other for a while... then the robot let out a loud beep, and another robot stepped out of the shadows. An E-101. It raised it's laser arm and aimed at Amy. In the spur of the moment, Amy swung the hammer pole around her head, pressed the button, yelled a battle cry and brought the thing hard down on the E-101's head. The robot sparked a couple of times, and fell over dead. The worker bot panicked and bolted. Amy hooked the hammer on her dress, looked both ways, and walked away whistling. 

*** 

"Find out anything?" Sonic asked his companions after they met back at the checkpoint.   
"Robots can make a good substitute for soap opera." Sage replied.   
"Don't mess with a worker bot." Amy added.   
Sonic sighed. "No luck, huh? All I found out was Robotnik has some kind of secret weapon he's about to unleash... donno what or where it is, though." "Maybe we should go back and try again?" Sage suggested.   
"Nah.." Amy replied. "We'll be caught if we stay too long. The alert is out already for a pink hedgehog."   
"Then I guess the mission was a failure.." Sonic lamented. "We'll just have to wait and see what he's up to... maybe it's no worse than his other failed attempts at domination."   
"We can only hope." Amy replied.   
"This could be the prophecy....." Sage said. 

*** 

The frog looked about himself. He was in a very dark place, and someone was approaching him. 

"The time has come!" Robotnik snarled from within the depths of the Egg Carrier. He held in his metal hand the grey Chaos Emerald. "Hold him." he commanded. Mecha Sonic grabbed the squirming giant frog and held him in place. Robotnik grabbed the frog's mouth and pried it open. Then he shoved the emerald inside. The frog began to choke, and Robotnik kept pushing until the emerald was deep inside the frog. Then he clamped it's mouth shut and held it. The frog squirmed furiously, but then stopped as it began to glow in the power of the emerald. It closed it's eyes, and stopped moving altogether.   
"I think it's dead, sire.." Mecha said. "The prophecy was a fail..."   
"CHAOS IS AWAKENED." the frog boomed, it's eyes opening. The eyes of the frog were just a solid yellow now, glowing brightly. Robotnik took a step back. "Chaos?" he asked.   
"WHO AWAKENS CHAOS FROM HIS HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEAR ENTRAPMENT?" the frog demanded.   
"I am Ivo Robotnik." Robotnik replied.   
"IVO ROBOTNIK..." the frog repeated.   
"I wish to release you, Chaos!" Robotnik announced. "If you agree to serve my wishes."   
"EXCELLENT!" the frog boomed. "CHAOS SHALL BE YOUR SLAVE IF YOU RELEASE HIM FROM THE EMERALDS!"   
"Then it is agreed!" Robotnik exclaimed. "How do I release you?"   
"THE ISLAND ACROSS THE SEAS." the frog replied. "THE CHAOS ISLE. TRAVEL THERE. ON THE ISLE THERE IS A TEMPLE.. IN THE TEMPLE THERE IS A MACHINE.. PLACE THE EMERALDS ON THE MACHINE AND OPERATE IT.. AND CHAOS WILL BE FREE ONCE AGAIN."   
"The Chaos Isle..." Robotnik snarled. "I see... then we shall go there immediately!"   
"EXCELLENT.." the frog replied. "CHAOS WILL BE WAI..." he was cut short when the frog threw up the emerald along with his lunch. It sprawled on the table, panting.   
"Hmph... never mind." Robotnik muttered. "I have the information I need." "What are we to do?" Mecha asked.   
"Dump the frog somewhere, it has served it's purpose." Robotnik replied. "Then set course for the Chaos Isle. The hour has come, Mecha... It is time for an adventure. But this time... the villains will win!" Laughter filled the alien Egg Carrier as it drifted through the skies toward the ocean. The time was near... would Robotnik unleash his weapon? Only time would tell, as the prophecy of the return of the first test began to come to pass. 

THE END 

-OF MOBIUS? 

SERIES TWO CHRONOLOGY:   
1. The New Girl   
2. Dragon the Chain   
3. Never Say Nemesis   
4. When a Hedgehog Meets a Fox   
5. Just Your Imagination   
6. Shred   
7. The Death Machine   
8. Metal Made Flesh   
9. Power Corrupts   
10. Halfway Across the Galaxy   
11. Two For One   
12. Prologue to an Adventure   
13. Adventure

   [1]: http://www.stas.net/1/shax/Virtualden.html
   [2]: mailto:Shaxr@angelfire.com



End file.
